Back in Iraq after 18 days mid-tour leave

Well, I have had my batteries recharged!

Of course it was an exhausting process...

In my 18 days:
we had an overnight camping trip to the mountains
a 3 day stay in Estes Park
a "Kelli and me" 10th anniversary 2 day vacation in Boulder
took in a SkySox game
visited the Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Museum with my Dad and Jan
spent a night in a local hotel with a water slide
built some stuffed animals with personal voice messages for the kids and Kelli
went golfing with my brother
went golfing with Kelli
went golfing with Joe and Kathy
checked out Tom's new house
talked with Shawn about winning the war in Iraq and more importantly the whole Favre debacle
had a block party to hang out with neighbors
won 3 of 4 Yahtzee games I played
destroyed Kelli in Cribbage
walked Connor to and from his first day in Kindergarten
hung out a couple times with my Mom and Frank
tore down the gym in the basement with help from my brother, Connor, and Samantha, while my dad watched
cleaned out the basement
cleaned out the garage
saw the new Batman movie
nearly finished up the paperwork I need to start school in January

jeez...I think there's some more, but I'm starting to get exhausted again just typing it all....

Anyways, I am back now and eager to finish this deployment out. A few milestones are ahead and I will mark my time with them.

SEP 10th or so Officially get orders promoting me to CPT. With these I can put in for my 30k bonus (taxed at 25%...luckily tax season will hit and bring that all back)
OCT 1st I will pin on CPT
NOV My replacement should show up sometime in NOV and I'll get him trained up
Late NOV/Early DEC I will redeploy to the Springs
Mid DEC Clear Fort Carson and finish up post deployment medical evals (a PAIN)
Xmas Vacation back to Wis/Illinois
Early Jan Vacation with Kiddos and Kelli to Disney World
Mid Jan register for classes and prep for school
Late Jan begin 18 months of schooling to finish degree.
Jun 2010 - show up for work somewhere....

There you have it.

Adam